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Grad student takes bronze at TSMC Research Competition

Posted:

September 7, 2010

Sidharth Balasubramanian, an ECE graduate student working with Prof. Waleed Khalil at the ElectroScience Laboratory, received a bronze medal in the circuit design technologies category at the TSMC Outstanding Student Research competition for his work on "An Ultra Wideband Direct Digital-to-RF Digital-to-Analog Converter Using Image Replica and Nonlinearity Cancelling Architecture."

TSMC noted that Balasubramanian was awarded this prize due to the transformational aspect of his work in building a "purely digital, mixerless transmitter utilizing the digital strengths of advanced nm technology."

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) Outstanding Student Research Award is highly regarded in the academic world. In addition to being a forum for professors and students around the world to showcase their research, it also fosters the exchange of knowledge between industry and academia.

TSMC received more than 200 research papers from around the world, of which eight applicants in the circuit area were selected as finalists and invited to Taiwan to present their work.

Judging for the TSMC Outstanding Student Research Award includes two rounds: a research paper and an oral presentation. In their papers, students must give a clear explanation of the purpose and relevance of their research, as well as its contribution to the field. TSMC Fellows, Technical Committee members and other experts in the field then judge the paper based on its effectiveness, correctness, and conciseness. In the presentation round, students who have passed the first stage must present their research before the Award Committee in Taiwan or by teleconference and participate in a discussion with committee members, who may also give suggestions for further research. After presenting to a panel of TSMC and international experts, all finalist students and their advisors were invited to the award ceremony in Taipei, where the top three awards in each category were announced.

Visit TSMC's website for a complete listing of winners and a further explanation of the competition.